Couple admits to Wash. killings

December 28, 2007

SEATTLE, Wash. - A woman and her boyfriend admitted to methodically gunning down her parents and four other family members in rural Washington on Christmas Eve, according to police affidavits filed in court Thursday. Michele Anderson, 29, and Joe McEnroe, 29, were ordered held without bail after a court appearance Thursday. The county prosecutor's office expects to have a decision regarding charges Friday. McEnroe and Anderson shot her parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, using large-caliber pistols and dragged the bodies to a shed, authorities wrote in the affidavits, which were based on statements the couple gave to authorities. A short time later, the Anderson's son, Scott, his wife Erica, and children Olivia, 6, and Nathan, 3, arrived for a Christmas Eve visit. ''Knowing that Scott and his family where potential witnesses, Joe and Michele shot them,'' sheriff's Detective John Pavlovich wrote. Anderson told authorities both of them shot her parents, brother and sister-in-law, but McEnroe killed the children, according to the affidavit. The couple, who had been together for six years, lived in a trailer about 200 yards from her parents' house. After the killings, they tried to flee to Canada, court documents said, but they returned the following day and were detained. McEnroe appeared briefly in the courtroom Thursday, but then left with his attorney, who came back and said he waived his right to appear. The bodies were found on a rural property that includes a house and a mobile home at the end of a long dirt road near the rural town of Carnation.